Stalked by the Sorrowful Mysteries

You've had it happen to you, I'm sure. That song that won't get out of your head. The movie scene that keeps coming back to you. That something that won't let go of your mind and let you be.

I was being stalked by the Sorrowful Mysteries.

For those who don't know the Rosary, it's divided up into four Mysteries - Sorrowful, Glorious, Joyful, and Luminous - and these are prayed on different days. When you pray, you focus on five events in Jesus' life that fall under each heading, and you pray a different Mystery each day.

Seven days a week, with Luminous prayed on Thursday, leaves two days each for the other three mysteries, but it seemed every time I picked up my Rosary, it was time for the Sorrowful Mysteries again. Or it would be the next day. Logistically impossible. God was trying to tell me something.

At the same time, the enemy was pushing certain buttons of mine. You know, those triggers that get you angry, or scared, or depressed, even when there's no logical reason. There were two for me, and he kept pushing them over and over and over. My wise spiritual director told me to ask Jesus and Mary how the button pushing was related to the Sorrowful Mysteries. Perhaps I was receiving an invitation to delve more deeply into the Rosary.

The next day (surprise) it was time for the Sorrowful Mysteries again. This time, instead of just focusing on the events in Jesus life, I asked God to apply their meaning to the buttons. The results were just another example of how God provides us with every spiritual blessing we need to get through life. He was inviting me to actively apply each Mystery to the current situations in my life as a way of guiding me through tough times.

I found so many treasures in the Sorrowful Mysteries that I decided to do the same with each of the Mysteries, and I'll blog on each of them separately. I hope they help YOU apply Jesus' life to your troubles, and that they guide you through them as they have me.

Next Up:  Applying the Sorrowful Mysteries